What is Qigong?

Qigong — key facts

Name	Qigong (气功) — qi “breath, energy” + gong “work, skill”
Origin	China — breathing and movement exercises documented since at least 168 BC
Three elements	Regulating the body (posture & movement), the breath and the mind
Forms	Moving (dynamic) and still (meditative) — hundreds of styles
Well-known sets	Five Animal Frolics, Eight Brocades (Baduanjin), Muscle–Tendon Change (Yijinjing)
Who can practice	Adults of any age and fitness — many exercises can be done standing or seated
Celebrated	World Tai Chi & Qigong Day — the last Saturday of April, in 80+ countries

What is Qigong?

The word Qigong joins two Chinese characters. Qi (气) means breath, air and, more widely, the vital energy that animates every living thing. Gong (功) means work, effort, or a skill that grows through patient practice — the same “gong” as in kung fu. Qigong, then, is the skill of working with your breath and your energy.

In practice, it looks simple: slow, flowing movements, quiet standing postures, soft and deep breathing, and attention gently resting in the body. There is no competition, no strain and no special equipment. Yet behind that simplicity is a refined tradition that has been studied, taught and passed from teacher to student for centuries.

Body, breath and mind — practiced together

Every form of Qigong works with three things you always carry with you. Traditional teachers call them the three regulations:

• Body

  Relaxed, upright posture and slow, smooth movement that opens the joints and releases tension.

• Breath

  Slow, long and deep breathing that settles into the lower abdomen and calms the whole system.

• Mind

  Calm, focused attention. “Where the mind goes, qi follows” — awareness gathers and guides energy.

When the three come together, the practice becomes more than exercise: a quiet state where body and mind feel unified, relaxed and awake at the same time.

Why practice Qigong?

Modern life asks a lot of us — long hours of sitting, constant screens, a mind that rarely rests. Qigong offers a gentle counterbalance that fits into an ordinary day:

• It is gentle. No strength, flexibility or athletic background is needed, and movements adapt to your body and age.
• It takes little time. Ten to twenty minutes a day is a real practice — consistency matters more than length.
• It works anywhere. At home, in a park, in a studio or online — no mat or equipment required.
• It lasts a lifetime. Beginners can start on day one, and there is always more depth to explore.
• It makes you an active participant in your own well-being, instead of waiting for change to come from outside.

The benefits of Qigong

Every body is different, and change grows with regular practice. These are the benefits people describe most often:

Qigong supports overall well-being. It is not medical treatment and doesn’t replace your doctor’s advice.

A short history of Qigong

Qigong did not appear all at once. It grew over more than two thousand years from many streams — Daoist practices for long life, Buddhist meditation, Confucian self-cultivation, the martial arts and traditional Chinese medicine.

1. 4th century BC

   Daoyin — “guiding and pulling”

   Ancient Chinese texts already describe people who “exhale the old and inhale the new” and stretch like bears and birds to nourish life. These daoyin exercises — guiding the breath, pulling and stretching the body — are the earliest roots of Qigong.

2. 168 BC

   The Daoyin Tu of Mawangdui

   In 1973, archaeologists opening tomb no. 3 at Mawangdui, in Hunan province, found a silk painting of 44 men and women performing exercises — some imitating animals, some breathing in stillness. Buried in 168 BC, it is one of the oldest illustrated exercise charts in the world.

3. 2nd century AD

   Hua Tuo and the Five Animal Frolics

   The celebrated physician Hua Tuo (141–208) is credited with the Wuqinxi, or Five Animal Frolics: movements inspired by the tiger, deer, bear, ape and bird, practiced to keep the body supple and strong.

• Tiger
• Deer
• Bear
• Ape
• Bird

Chinese woodcuts of the Play of the Five Creatures. Wellcome Collection · CC BY 4.0

1. Centuries of cultivation

   Daoist, Buddhist and martial streams

   Over the following centuries, Daoist hermits refined breathing and meditation for long life, Buddhist monasteries added their own methods of stillness, and martial artists developed exercises to strengthen the body from within — such as the Yijinjing, traditionally linked to the Shaolin Temple.

2. c. 1150 AD

   The Eight Brocades

   The Baduanjin — eight movements “as precious as silk brocade” — is described in Song-dynasty writings of the 12th century. Short, gentle and easy to remember, it is still one of the most widely practiced Qigong sets today.

1. 1950s

   One name for many practices

   The word qigong came into wide use in the late 1940s and 1950s as an umbrella name for China’s many breathing, movement and meditation exercises. Liu Guizhen’s 1957 book was the first widely published book on qigong.

2. Today

   A practice for the whole world

   From the 1980s, Qigong spread far beyond China. Today it is practiced in parks, studios and living rooms on every continent — and online — and each year World Tai Chi & Qigong Day brings people together in more than 80 countries.

Many styles, one root

There are hundreds of Qigong styles, but they share the same foundation of body, breath and mind. Broadly, they fall into two groups:

Tai chi, which began as a martial art, is a close relative: when practiced for health it is considered one form of Qigong.

Learning Qigong with Iurii

Frequently asked questions